Today’s review is part of the blog tour for Sharon Shinn's new graphic novel, Shattered Warrior, illustrated by Molly Knox Ostertag. It’s sci-fi, with a resistance fight and a love story (sounds a lot like Star Wars, eh?)(read it and find out!).

Sharon Shinn! Oh man, talk about one of the greatest discoveries of my blogging life – I found Sharon Shinn’s books through a blog challenge, and now I keep a sharp eye out for everything she does. It may or may not hit all of my sweet spots, but her work is always emotion-inducing (by which I mean I usually cry AND want to throw her books across the room/hug them in equal measure). tl;dr Sharon Shinn makes me read books/plots/subgenres I didn’t know I wanted, and like it. Folks, when I heard she had a sci-fi graphic novel coming out with one of my favorite publishers, I was IN, 110%, YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU, and I was not disappointed.

It is eight years after Colleen Cavanaugh's home world was invaded by the Derichets, a tyrannical alien race bent on exploiting the planet's mineral resources.

Most of her family died in the war, and she now lives alone in the city. Aside from her acquaintances at the factory where she toils for the Derichets, Colleen makes a single friend in Jann, a member of the violent group of rebels known as the Chromatti. One day Colleen receives shocking news: her niece Lucy is alive and in need of her help. Together, Colleen, Jann, and Lucy create their own tenuous family.

But Colleen must decide if it's worth risking all of their survival to join a growing underground revolution against the Derichets ... in Sharon Shinn and Molly Knox Ostertag's Shattered Warrior.

Not long ago, Colleen Cavenaugh was a beloved daughter of the great house of Avon, and she and her sister were showered with luxuries. Then the Derichets came and Colleen lost her whole family, and everyone on the planet lost their freedom. Now Colleen lives alone in her empty house and works in a factory sorting precious minerals for the Derichet overlords – and does not let anyone or anything touch her heart. That fragile cocoon is broken when a band of Chromatti threatens her safety, her lost niece is found, and the Valenchi resistance turns from rumor to real. Will she act, or will she try to preserve the status quo? The answer could change her planet’s future.

One of Sharon Shinn’s trademarks is delicious world- and character-building, and though the graphic novel format limits prose a bit, Molly Knox Ostertag’s art adds layers of history and meaning. Colleen’s world is restricted to places she can reach on foot, by bike, or by treadway (underground public transport on moving walkways), and so the scope of the book is narrow – this isn’t a grand starship journey. That said, there is plenty to explore on-planet – the opressive Derichet (who look like nothing so much as the Dark Elves from the 2ndThor film!) pose an ever-present danger, but the Chromatti (ex-miners tattooed with phosphorous ink who roam about in bands) threaten as well, and Colleen is a particularly vulnerable target as a member of the former upper class, a woman, and a person with dependents.

Colleen herself is marked by loss. She lives one day at a time, trying to keep her head down, trying to stay safe and sane. But of course, it wouldn’t be a story if there weren’t things to knock her out of her comfort zone! One of those things is a Chromatti man named Jann, who both frightens and intrigues her in equal measure. It’s one of those “they would never have met if it weren’t for the ‘end of the world’” type of relationships. The delicate communication that Colleen and Jann cultivate ultimately leads to more, and it is one of the best parts of the book.

Colleen is also changed by her eventual involvement in the resistance. Though I didn’t love that it took a Derichet’s violence against a woman (this trope is still used to signal evil?! …yeah) to make up her mind, Colleen does get involved in a small way. Officially, the Valenchi “don’t exist,” they blow up transport a la French resistance fighters in WWII, and Colleen does her part but does not immediately become the leader – something that I’ve seen before in stories that always rings false. Subtlety = yesssss!

Other things I liked, because this review is getting really long: the stakes are high (plot could mean death!), gender equality in facing danger and putting everything on the line, old class system & wealth break down in the face of occupation (like Star Wars!), found family, diversity (seems like it was probably an artist decision more than an author one, but I’ll take it), and a bisexual love interest (heavily implied)(yay!).

Things I didn’t like: I wish there had been more page time for the legend the book title is based on, and I also wish there was more of this story, period. I think that further development of the Lucy-Colleen relationship would not have gone amiss. But. If my only complaint is that I wanted more, you know I liked the book!

So that brings us to the art, which is just fantastic. Molly Knox Ostertag really takes this story and makes it shine – the illustrations up the stakes, ground it in a place (make Avon & Comstock city come alive!), make you see and feel the characters’ changing emotions and attachments. The art is where the diversity in skin color, architecture, and clothing all tell their own stories – and come together to make the book something more, to show you a history that is unusual and interesting. I’ll be checking out everything Ostertag has ever done, and I usually don’t say that about art (I’ll say it once in a blue moon about an author, so this is a big thing).

In all, Shattered Warrior is a high-stakes rebellion/unexpected love story mash-up with to-die-for art. Read it!

Recommended for: fans of Princess Leia, the Saga graphic novels, and older teen and up audiences who enjoy science fiction with love stories and diverse characters.

Interested in more reviews of Shattered Warrior? Check out the rest of the blog tour: